Thomas Bryant becomes more important to Syracuse with McCullough leaving — Cuse Clicks

With ChrisMcCullough’s departure to the NBA Draft, Syracuse has an even bigger need now for ThomasBryant. The 6-foot-10 forward from Huntington (W.V.) Prep went for 27 points, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks Thursday to lead his team to a 73-70 quarterfinal victory over Jaylen Brown and Marietta (GA) Wheeler in the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School Nationals at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y. The 6-7 Brown went for 29 points and 15 rebounds.

JamalMurray has a bright future ahead of him. Forget just Canada, this Kitchener native is one of the top recruits in all of North America. After finishing up a very successful second season with the Athlete Institute’s Orangeville Prep team, the accolades and all-star games have not stopped piling up for the 18-year-old. In the build up to both the Nike Hoop Summit, happening April 11 in Portland, and the BioSteel All Canadian All Star Game, happening just three days later on April 14, I had a chance to chat with Murray this week.

Wildwood (Mo.) Lafayette tight end BrendanScales is back at school after spring break. The 6-foot-4 and 220-pound recruit was in Chicago that week taking part in a camp. He also took a trip north with a number of other highly touted recruits to check out some schools. Two of the schools that Scales was going to see had already offered him a scholarship.

MoustaphaDiagne is quite a presence in the paint. When all 6 feet-9 inches and 230 pounds of him come at opponents, watch out. The Pope John senior forward loomed large on the court just in physical stature alone. His numbers, though, loomed large as well. His overall averages this past season — 14.7 points, 12 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game — show that he was the best all-around player on the area’s best basketball team.

Gill St. Bernard (N.J.) junior guard TyusBattle currently has a slate of top eight schools, alphabetically: Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Syracuse. The only school that hasn’t received a visit from the 6-foot-6, 205-pound five-star – ranked No. 14 overall nationally – is Notre Dame. But according to his father, Gary Battle, that doesn’t indicate a lack of interest in the Irish, or favoritism toward the other schools on the list.

Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern offensive tackle TremayneAnchrum visited Georgia on Tuesday afternoon with highly coveted teammates Bailey Hockman and Julian Rochester. On Tuesday, it was Anchrum’s turn to get the good news. “I was having a conversation with Coach [Mark] Richt and he pulled me into his office to talk to him,” Anchrum told UGASports. “We were talking about our personal lives and things like that and then he said, “We want to offer you a scholarship’. He said Coach [Rob] Sale is fired up about me and they want me to get comfortable up there.” Anchrum, who now holds 15 total offers including Arizona State, Kansas State, Nebraska, Syracuse and Wake Forest, enjoyed seeing the way Georgia’s new offensive line coach operates in practice.

About Wes Cheng

Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also worked for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005. Follow him on Twitter @ChengWes.